Michael Bay and The Rock 'Gain' Just Enough to Win the Weekend

Welcome to the Box Office Report, where we're reluctant to live in a world where The Rock is a real movie star.

1. Pain & Gain (Paramount): $20 million in 3,277 theaters

Didn't you kind of love it when The Rock's movie career was mostly filled with duds like The Tooth Fairy? Are you as hesitant about this year -- the year where The Rock has already had three successful movies come out -- and it's not even May 1st yet? This $20 million haul is sort of disappointing for Michael Bay, the guy used to making zillions off mega movies like Transformers. (Maybe they shouldn't have marketed Pain & Gain by comparing it to the Coen brothers? Don't confuse people. Compare it to Bad Boys.)

But we still haven't seen what is inarguably his biggest movie of the year, Fast & Furious 6. And that thing it going to make a mint. Sure, you could make the case that in each movie he's walking tall on the shoulders of bigger stars and bigger franchises (Channing Tatum in G.I. Joe, Mark Wahlberg and Michael Bay in Pain & Gain, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in Fast & Furious) but he's still there. Despite the other guys, he's still one of the biggest names in those movies and huge part of their success. I think I need to lay down. This is all a little too much.

2. Oblivion (Universal): $17.4 million in 3,792 theaters [Week 2]

Someone on Twitter said this last week, but because of the service's archival limitations and my not remembering who it was I'll say it again here: Oblivion's success doesn't say anything about how good a movie it is. It says Tom Cruise is still a bankable movie star.

3. 42 (Warner): $10.7 million in 3,405 theaters [Week 3]

It's disappointing that 42 ended up being, by all accounts, competent but unexceptional. Jackie Robinson deserves so much more than that. You should listen to this Grantland podcast that has some fun history on past Jackie Robinson biopic developments.

4. The Big Wedding (Lionsgate): $7.5 million in 2,633 theaters

This movie looks disturbingly tolerable for a romantic comedy with Katherine Heigl in it.

5. The Croods (Fox): $6.6 million in 3,283 theaters [Week 6]

Here's something that might blow your mind: The Croods is the second high grossing movie of the year so far. Ahead of Identity Thief and behind Oz: the Great and Powerful, this animated flick has racked up nearly $165 million.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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Connor Simpson is a former staff writer for The Wire. His work has appeared in Business Insider and City Lab.